Petition
Late September 1995
7th year
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In the Library Marcus peeked over Jo's shoulder as her quill scribbled. "What's this?" he asked.
"Petition to get rid of Umbridge. Her royal rottenness."
"A petition?"
"Yep. You know, that thing you have people sign when you want to change something."
"Are you expecting to get signatures?"
"You bet your ass I am."
"You expecting it to work?"
"I am, at the very least, expecting to attract a lot of attention. Petitions are big and flashy and noisy and pretty hard to ignore. Luna thought it would gain more traction if each house signed individual petitions. Soon as I finish writing it I'll give you one for Slytherin, just like we did with the house elves."
Interest turned to disbelief, "That was a bunch of elves. You can not expect me to waive this around the Slytherin common room."
She turned to scowl at him, "And why not?"
Marcus huffed a short laugh, "Jocelyn, no one will sign it. Any student who would want to, wouldn't dare if any of their housemates were going to see. Umbridge has been the best thing to happen to Slytherins since Dumbledore was appointed headmaster. She makes us better."
Jo gaped at this boy that she'd been happily dating for the last three years. She managed to force past the shock to splutter, "She makes you bullies. No, that's not quite it, the bullies were bullies before, she just gives her permission and praise. She makes it ok to be bullies. She makes it socially acceptable."
"I resent that. Not all Slytherins are bullies!" He shot.
"You are absolutely right, some of you are worse!" She yelled back, "You are standing by and letting a corrupt woman come into our classrooms and take away our ability to feel safe, she refuses to let anyone tell the truth about Voldemort, she won't teach us anything if it's not out of a government-approved textbook that shouldn't even be taught to first years!"
In a tone meant to soothe, to appease, he said, "She'll only be here for a year, we can tough that out."
She was not soothed. "But what kind of damage is she going to do in that year? And what if, at the end of the year, the ministry sees how effective her methods of teaching are and decides she should stay? What next? More Ministry sent teachers? Within a single decade, the whole school would be run by Ministry puppets!"
Madam Pince gave them a dark look from her desk and hissed "SHHH!"
Marcus dropped his voice, "Aren't you exaggerating, just a little?"
"No, I am not. Are you gonna help me or should I consider this the end of the Slytherpuff Alliance?"
Marcus blanched, "You would never—"
"I would."
Agast, Marcus demanded, "You would end the Alliance and pull Hufflepuff support? Do you know what that would do to them? To both sides? Dozens of young Slytherins set adrift without their buddies in a school that hates them just for being sorted into the house with the bad reputation! And just as many Hufflepuffs cut off from the ones who keep them from being bullied. I knew you could be vicious, Jocelyn, I never thought you could be cruel."
Jo's face flushed in anger, how dare he call her cruel! "I'm not the one killing the Alliance, Captain, you are. By refusing to do what's right and help us get rid of the uber bitch! If Umbridge finds out about it, she'll kill it and punish the ones working under it. It would be better to end the Alliance now than to let her find out and murder it."
In a voice that shook ever so slightly, his shoulders hunched and his hands clenched on the chair in front of him, Marcus murmured, "The death of the Alliance hurts both of us."
"You are absolutely right, but it hurts you a lot more than it hurts me." This was only half a lie, if he killed the Slyther-Puff Alliance, she didn't think she could go on loving him and that would hurt so much more than she could imagine.
A small voice cleared its throat. Jo and Marcus turned as one to glare at the intruder, "What?" they snapped.
A second year Slytherin shrank back against their companion who whispered comfortingly, "Go on, it's ok. She didn't mean to take it out on you."
Jo's glare disappeared into a tight smile; she was trying to be less threatening, instead she looked like a shark about to dine on baby seal.
The young Slytherin blanched, "Um. I heard you arguing. Professor Umbridge is mean. She doesn't like us. She's not like Professor Moody was—he always seemed to be sorry when he was mean, even if it took him a while to realize he was being mean. She's not sorry. She doesn't teach us anything. She should be replaced by someone who will. I'd sign your petishinny… thingie."
"Jordan," Marcus started, "just because you're willing to sign it doesn't mean the other Slytherins will and if some of them find out that you sided with Hufflepuff over them, they'll make life miserable."
Jordan stomped one foot, fists clenched, "I'm not siding with Hufflepuff! I'm siding with my friends! I'm siding with the solution that will benefit the most people. Plus, no-one has to know. The Slytherins use invisible ink to sign and then when we turn in the list, we un-invisible the ink. That way, everyone's safe. We can spread the word through the buddy system that kids can sign without fear of retribution."
The buddy system paired first year Slytherins with second year Hufflepuffs and first year Hufflepuffs with seventh year Slytherins. This ensured that young Slytherins had someone about their own age who had already learned their way around the school to help them adjust. It also gave young Hufflepuffs a mentor who taught them about the Alliance and would happily step in when they needed help; their mentors prepared them for their second year as the buddy to a new student. It seemed to work pretty well.
"You're quite the little diplomat aren't you Jordan?" Jo asked, pleased.
Jordan grinned at the impressed look on Jo's face.
Jo turned back to Marcus, "It's an elegant solution, Marcus. What do you say, will you let me give you a copy for Slytherin, or do I have to go behind your back?"
Marcus threw his hands in the air and sighed, "You'll do it either way. Just don't be surprised if they don't sign."
Jo handed out the three copies of the petition to the other houses and as promised, Marcus, Jordan and Jordan's Puff Buddy started a whisper campaign through the Alliance, telling anyone who would listen about the plan to dump Umbridge. At the end of thirty days the papers were collected, invisible ink was rendered visible and they were handed over to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall who promised and was trusted to deliver to Dumbledore who would tally the names, seal the papers in a scroll and send them via Fawkes to the ministry.
The Minister would receive the papers within the week, read them, dismiss them and have them filed away in some forgotten cabinet in some forgotten corner of some forgotten office.
Nothing would be done about Umbridge.